Honest Winter Tire vs All Season

[Gallowlight]

Hello!



New to the forum and just got a version of my dream wheels in April. I live in CT where the snow can be *meh* and 40 degrees all winter or *all the snow* and in single digits.



My 2017 86 still has the stock tires (dealer special, lived on the lot for all 3 years less than 15k on tires and car). I know they need to go for the winter. I believe they are Bridgestone Turanzas. I'm on a budget and would love to be able to afford the Blizzak WS90's for the winter and swap them back in the summer, but I have budget of roughly $600.



Our 03 Bugeye WRX wagon has fantastic Continental Extreme Contact DWS 06 tires on it, and they've performed fantastically as an All Season.


I know the AWD vs RWD reality, but also know that AWD does not help you turn or stop, just gets you moving. From fellow Toyobaru owners, can I realistically run a set of quality All Seasons such as the DWS 06, or should I look for a cheaper set of winter tires because they are a must?



Thank you thank you!

[Tcoat]

If you get temperatures much below freezing then an actual winter tire is a must with these cars.
All season tires are fine in "warmer" areas but you will spend a lot of time sitting and spinning even on bare pavement.

[ZDan]

Pick the tire for the worst conditions that you *might* encounter. Get dedicated winters and you'll be prepared if that happens. I'm on Pirelli Sottozero III and they're alright but probably more "performance" and handling oriented than most dedicated winter tires. Check tire rack for actual test results on snow/ice.

The BIG problem with this car is that it is quite nose-heavy at 55F/45R weight distribution, my 49F/51R S2000 did *much* better in the snow!

[RToyo86]

Based on your post I assume you planning to mount the tires on your factory wheels?

Tire cost will be a little more expensive in 17" than 16" fitment. That said you have some options that are comparable to SW90 in overall performance. These get tested against each other and score pretty close overall.
- Pirelli ice zero FR
- Continental VikingContact7
- Nokian Hakkapaliita R3
- Yokohama Ice guard
- Michelin X-ice snow(new this year not much info/probably more expensive)

You can get into more budget options, general altimax arctics are a good "mid" range tire. General tire being a subsidiary of continental you are still getting a quality product.
I would avoid generic cheap tires with all season looking tread pattern. Control in snow/ice is crap.

[Ernest72]

In the tristate area we get about 8-12 days of really bad weather and maybe another 10 with minor snow/sleet. The way I think about it is, if you have to go out no matter what. Then snows all the way. I have them on my 04 WRX. I have all seasons on my BRZ because they are fine in light sleet rain or snow, I will get home but with less confidence. But if a threat of bad weather comes I just take the WRX. If I had one car it would snows and summers.

But I get the indecision because, so many warm days on my snows and the car is squirmy over 75mph when it’s that warm. I have conti winter contact snows. Tread has held up too.

[BigTuna]

Any dedicated winter tire will be an improvement. Even a cheap winter tire will give you 90% of the cold grip that a WS90 does.

Another option would be to find a used set of wheel/tires on craigslist of facebook marketplace.

[Gallowlight]

Thanks for all the replies!



Yes, for the moment I plan to mount the tires to my stock 17" rims. I've been on FB Marketplace searching for a set of tires I could use 2nd hand, but haven't had luck within a reasonable area. I'll look here as well for something.



But the consensus seems to be All Season: OK in some conditions but less driving confidence, depending on conditions/tire might be squirrely even on dry pavement, potentially decent in light snow.

[ZDan]

Some all-seasons are better than others in the snow. You *might* consider one but only if it has been tested and proven to have decent performance in snow. Tire Rack test results for some UHP all-seasons:

https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tests...y.jsp?ttid=241

[tobin]

Hello and welcome to the forum. I'm a CT resident also. I have an 06 Outback and my 13 BRZ that I've owned since new. I drive the BRZ all winter on Blizzak WS80 unless there is very heavy snow.

If you're on a $600 budget, I would recommend using the WRX in the winter and spending your money on a quality summer tire for the BRZ. You'll get more enjoyment out of the car that way. If you must drive the BRZ in the winter, it depends on if you plan to drive in the snow or not. If so, yes, you WILL need a dedicated snow tire. Even with the WS80, these cars are a bad time in CT snow storms. Mainly because of hills, frequent stop/starts, traffic, etc. Starting from a dead stop is the killer as it can be tough to get traction and momentum. Your commute and how frequently you plan on driving in snow (say over 1" of actual snow on the road) will determine if you need dedicated snows or not. If you can drive it only in decent weather, you might be OK with just all seasons, but then you're sacrificing a lot of grip and fun the rest of the year.

[Gallowlight]

Originally Posted by tobin

Hello and welcome to the forum. I'm a CT resident also. I have an 06 Outback and my 13 BRZ that I've owned since new. I drive the BRZ all winter on Blizzak WS80 unless there is very heavy snow.

If you're on a $600 budget, I would recommend using the WRX in the winter and spending your money on a quality summer tire for the BRZ. You'll get more enjoyment out of the car that way. If you must drive the BRZ in the winter, it depends on if you plan to drive in the snow or not. If so, yes, you WILL need a dedicated snow tire. Even with the WS80, these cars are a bad time in CT snow storms. Mainly because of hills, frequent stop/starts, traffic, etc. Starting from a dead stop is the killer as it can be tough to get traction and momentum. Your commute and how frequently you plan on driving in snow (say over 1" of actual snow on the road) will determine if you need dedicated snows or not. If you can drive it only in decent weather, you might be OK with just all seasons, but then you're sacrificing a lot of grip and fun the rest of the year.

Most useful advice thus far, thank you for the honesty! The WRX is the BF's car, so it typically goes with him. I can bum a ride if absolutely necessary. I will need to be out and about in all kinds of weather to get to my job. This hills thing makes sense for this. I will keep looking for a deal on some winter tires. Really does seem to be the best option thus far.

[ZionsWrath]

You will probably get by the first season with all seasons, but after they get some wear the winter performance is going to drop considerably.


If you must get to work it makes a lot of sense to get a second set on wheel/tire for winter.


That is my situation. If money is tight then missing a days pay because you are stuck or worse have an accident is going to be a bad time. Also when it snows, overtime is usually available for me as people call out sick due to the storm and having snow tires I can easily get to work.


Some things for you to think about...

[Ohio Enthusiast]

Originally Posted by ZionsWrath

You will probably get by the first season with all seasons, but after they get some wear the winter performance is going to drop considerably.

That's a really good point. The Conti DWS even state in their info that once the "S" marker is worn you shouldn't use the tires for snow anymore. I couldn't find the tread depth of the "S" marker on those, but I would guess it's not that deep (i.e. you don't have a lot of tread for snow). This might lead to annoying situations where you wear through the "S" marker during the summer and need to get new tires for the winter, despite them still being fine for dry/wet conditions.
This is also true for winter tires (having a higher minimal tread depth), but winter tires are only used in winter and thus are replaced appropriately (i.e. you don't "waste" winter tread depth during the summer).

Keep in mind that tire tests rarely test worn out tires (there are only a handful of tests that simulate performance of a worn tire by shaving it), so you can't tell how it will behave in the second/third/etc. winter based on stellar as-new performance.

[churchx]

It's not just all-seasons, that will suffer grip drop in winter/snow. There is reason, that in many countries that mandate all-season or winter tire usage there is different minimum thread depth for summer vs winter tires. For example here in LV minimum is 1.6mm for summer tires and 4mm minimum for winter ones. Adding to that most tires show serious grip degradation past 30% wear .. budget aside, given importance of having good tires, it's better try to never run them down past reasonable. Wrong area to save money on.

[Ernest72]

I had all seasons for 10 winters of my 17 with my WRX. Never had a problem, but also did not have the absolute confidence I have with the snows now. So it really depends on what you want. Summers are a must though, so much more grip than all seasons.